UPI payment in India may soon be even more convenient. According to a Business Standard report, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is considering starting biometric-based authentication for UPI transactions. This means that users may soon approve payment using their fingerprint or face ID, without the need to enter their UPI PIN.

Currently, upi transactions require 4 to 6-conductive pins that users must enter to confirm the payment. This pin acts as a safety layer, but it can also slow down the process and become a barrier for those who are not comfortable using digital platforms, especially senior citizens or those in rural areas. With biometric authentication, payment can only be approved by verifying the user identification through physical symptoms such as fingerprint or facial identification.

Experts say that this step can benefit a large portion of users. Rohit Mahajan, founder and managing partner at Plutos One, told the Economic Times that biometric approval will make digital payments easier for those who struggle with recollection of passwords or using smartphones. He says that this can help make digital transactions smooth and more accessible. At the same time, biometric systems can also reduce fraud, as physical characteristics are duplicate or stealing compared to pin.

However, this idea is still in discussion and has not yet been confirmed. If applied, NPCI must ensure that privacy measures and proper infrastructure. Mahajan explains that a lot will depend on how this feature is rolled out, especially around issues such as user consent and data security.

Meanwhile, NPCI is also set to introduce some changes in the way UPI work from 1 August. One of the important changes is a limit to how often the user can check their bank balance through the UPI app. It will now be cap 50 per app per app per day. However, the users will look at their updated bank balance after every successful transaction, which can reduce the requirement of repeated balance checks.

Another significant change involves scheduled payments. Auto-debit payment, such as monthly EMI or membership, will now be processed before 10 pm or only after 9:30 pm. This will help reduce the server load during a high-treated period.

Additionally, the users will be able to recover the details of the bank account connected to their mobile number 25 times only 25 times a day, and will check the position of pending transactions only three times with a difference of 90 seconds between each attempt.